The Isleños of Louisiana: On the Water's Edge

Louisiana is perhaps best known for its distinctive French heritage, a legacy visible in the street names and architecture around the state.The truth is, Louisiana has one of the most culturally diverse populations in the nation, with not only French and Anglo-American settlers, but the Native Americans who lived there already, and the enslaved Africans the new colonists brought with them into Louisiana Territory. A chapter of Louisiana history that tends to be forgotten however, is when the area fell to Spanish control in the late 1700s. Coaxed by promises of new opportunity, thousands of Canary Islanders of Spanish descent relocated to Louisiana, where they established four settlements. Generations of Isleños, that is the ethnic group of descendants from the Canary Islands who have intermarried with other communities, have overcome the challenges of an evolving American society, as well as the devastation of storms that have ripped through their land. Through it all, the Isleños have preserved their unique heritage, traditions and culture for more than two centuries.